Most people likely have not heard of cattle raiding before and are initially surprised when they here this phrase. However, cattle raiding is not something new to Eastern Africans and has been going on for generations. It will most likely also continue on for generation unless the climate crisis is dealt with. Now your probably now wondering, "Climate crisis and cattle, how are these too even remotely linked"? Well this problem ultimately stems back to the Turkana and Pokot tribes conflict over water in Kenya. Drought in this area has ultimately been caused by drought and has been rapidly increasing as our planet ages. In the 1970s it was a drought every seven years, in the 1980s they came every five years, in the 1990s they were every two years. and now in the 2000s they happen every single year. The Turkana looking for water began migrating south in search where the ran into the lands of the Pokot. The Turkana forced the small numbered Pokot onto infertile mountainous area and were forced to resort to different tactics for survival. Thus cattle raiding was born.
Cattle raiding is still something that plagues this area to this day expect now the problem has only gotten worse and modern day firearms are involved. Since around the 1990s AK-47's have been the weapon of choice for most cattle rustler. Small, compact, and reliable, these cattle raiders are now armed with fully automatic killing machines just so they can essential hunt for survival. To make matters worse an AK-47 would only cost a cattle raider about two cows. However, this is not the only way cattle raiding has evolved it has now taken on an organized political body. This has become such a widespread geopolitical issue in East Africa that it is now spreading to other parts of Africa including Nigeria and South Sudan. It was found in the early 2017 in Laikipia, Kenya about 10,000 pastoralist armed with fully automatic rifles raided farms, wildlife reserves and conservancies. In total they drove out a heard of over 135,000 cattle. Now what is the government doing in this area to stop the problem? Well its been mainly by two ways, indiscriminate violence or incentivizing disarmament, by no surprise neither of these methods have proved effective. Instead the local governments in this area should try to encourage policy framework that already exist in East Africa. This policy being a global arms control initiative like the Arms Trade Treaty. They must first unify their people and stop cattle raiding so that famine and drought in this area can be tackled. If nothing is done this problem will only continue.
I had no idea this existed, but I can understand why it is occurring. These families are starving, and a cattle could provide a lot of food for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteI could imagine how serious of a problem this is for those people since cattle is such a major food source. Its scary to read that both solutions weren't really considered to be effective in stopping cattle raids.
ReplyDeleteIt is wild to know how cattle can be viewed as currency in the regions. And I was surprised to find out that this keeps happening nowadays as well - I thought that it should have ended few decades ago, but it seems that things turned out not how I thought they would
ReplyDeleteIt is truly crazy to think something like this is a direct result of the climate crisis and drought. I like how you went into detail about what is being done. Most posts, myself included, just simply addressed the the issues and provided information. I like how you explained what is being done to combat the issue.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most horrifying details from your piece is that the issue (cattle raiding) is being sown outside of East Africa. I hope that the situation can be ameliorated soon because cattle raids must make life incredibly difficult for individuals and communities.
ReplyDeleteCattle raiding being an organized crime is the astonishing fact in this article, desperate times really does call for desperate measures. Desperate times don't discriminate either so I guess you got to do what you have to do to survive.
ReplyDeleteI wonder with all the droughts that happened in Turkana, how they were able to take care of so much cattle. I would guess cattle take up more water than most plants and require large amounts of food aswell.
ReplyDeleteIt's insane to think it's still going on considering most people or I'd wager most Americans believe warring tribes are a thing of the past. Sad to see the violence and all the unnecessary blood.
ReplyDeleteThis is one unique and niche example of how climate change has effects in every corner of the world. Weird things are happening indeed.
ReplyDeleteI think the number ten thousand really emphasizes the scope of these raids. There are countries with only ten or twenty thousand people in them, it's like a civil war. I think the Arms Trade Treaty is good, but it's a longer term solution it seems like. With the cattle-raiding lifestyle going generations back, hopefully they can find other sources of income. I read on the DRC (Danish Refugee Council) that some governments are offering construction jobs for infrastructure and things like starting loans for businesses. But with the climate crisis, I think a bigger solution is going to be necessary. Link to that article I read is below.
ReplyDeletehttps://drc.ngo/it-matters/current-affairs/2016/2/if-you-dont-raid-cattle-what-else-is-there/